Numerosity and allocation behavior: Insights using the dictator game
This paper investigates how the numerosity bias influences individuals’ allocation of resources between themselves and others, using the backdrop of the traditional dictator game. Across four studies including both hypothetical and real exchanges of money, we show that the form of the numerical valu...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2017-11-01
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| Series: | Judgment and Decision Making |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1930297500006665/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1827831628199624704 |
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| author | Sunaina Shrivastava Gaurav Jain Dhananjay Nayakankuppam Gary J. Gaeth Irwin P Levin |
| author_facet | Sunaina Shrivastava Gaurav Jain Dhananjay Nayakankuppam Gary J. Gaeth Irwin P Levin |
| author_sort | Sunaina Shrivastava |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper investigates how the numerosity bias influences individuals’ allocation of resources between themselves and others, using the backdrop of the traditional dictator game. Across four studies including both hypothetical and real exchanges of money, we show that the form of the numerical value representing the quantity of the resource (e.g., $20 vs 2000 cents) systematically biases the decision-maker to perceive the quantity s/he is thinking of allocating as being “less than adequate” or “more than adequate”. Essentially, such a biased perception of adequacy with respect to the quantity of the resource consequently influences the decision-maker’s final allocation decision. We attribute this systematic bias to the “numerosity” of the resource. We find that bigger numerical values representing quantity (e.g., 2000 cents) bias decision-makers to over-infer the quantity, thus inducing them to allocate less to the entities they are focusing on. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:53:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cdfff5372bbc4b9abd0f4bca8e1b70d1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1930-2975 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:53:13Z |
| publishDate | 2017-11-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Judgment and Decision Making |
| spelling | doaj.art-cdfff5372bbc4b9abd0f4bca8e1b70d12023-09-03T09:20:20ZengCambridge University PressJudgment and Decision Making1930-29752017-11-011252753610.1017/S1930297500006665Numerosity and allocation behavior: Insights using the dictator gameSunaina Shrivastava0Gaurav Jain1Dhananjay Nayakankuppam2Gary J. Gaeth3Irwin P Levin4Department of Marketing, Tippie College of Business, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52240.Lally School of Management, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.Department of Marketing, Tippie College of Business, University of Iowa.Department of Marketing, Tippie College of Business, University of Iowa.Department of Marketing, Tippie College of Business, University of Iowa. Department of Psychology, University of Iowa.This paper investigates how the numerosity bias influences individuals’ allocation of resources between themselves and others, using the backdrop of the traditional dictator game. Across four studies including both hypothetical and real exchanges of money, we show that the form of the numerical value representing the quantity of the resource (e.g., $20 vs 2000 cents) systematically biases the decision-maker to perceive the quantity s/he is thinking of allocating as being “less than adequate” or “more than adequate”. Essentially, such a biased perception of adequacy with respect to the quantity of the resource consequently influences the decision-maker’s final allocation decision. We attribute this systematic bias to the “numerosity” of the resource. We find that bigger numerical values representing quantity (e.g., 2000 cents) bias decision-makers to over-infer the quantity, thus inducing them to allocate less to the entities they are focusing on.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1930297500006665/type/journal_articlenumerosityframingdictator gameallocationbehaviorresource allocation |
| spellingShingle | Sunaina Shrivastava Gaurav Jain Dhananjay Nayakankuppam Gary J. Gaeth Irwin P Levin Numerosity and allocation behavior: Insights using the dictator game Judgment and Decision Making numerosity framing dictator game allocation behavior resource allocation |
| title | Numerosity and allocation behavior: Insights using the dictator game |
| title_full | Numerosity and allocation behavior: Insights using the dictator game |
| title_fullStr | Numerosity and allocation behavior: Insights using the dictator game |
| title_full_unstemmed | Numerosity and allocation behavior: Insights using the dictator game |
| title_short | Numerosity and allocation behavior: Insights using the dictator game |
| title_sort | numerosity and allocation behavior insights using the dictator game |
| topic | numerosity framing dictator game allocation behavior resource allocation |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1930297500006665/type/journal_article |
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